Three men arrested in robbery of tourists in Palm Springs

A West Virginia couple, here on vacation, just wanted to find a place to buy cheap cigarettes Wednesday night, but instead was robbed at gunpoint of their life savings — $7,800 — police said.

But they weren't passive victims. They followed the robbers' car and gave Palm Springs police a description that led to the arrest of three men.

Police received a call about 7 p.m. from a "hysterical" woman, saying she and her husband had been stopped at Kirk Road and Purdy Lane when a man got out of his car, walked to their car, put a gun to her husband's head and demanded money.

"I will blow your head off," he said.

The 33-year-old man and his 23-year-old wife, from Tornado, W. Va., handed over $7,800 in cash. The robber jumped back into the blue 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and sped off with two other men, police said.

As they called 911, the couple began following the robbers. At one point, one of them threw $200 at the victims for "gas money," police said.

The couple lost the Chevy, but had been able to provide enough of a description that police stopped the getaway car at Dolan Road and Congress Avenue.

Arrested were Raymond Buford, 26, of Lake Worth; Martavious Williams, 21, of West Palm Beach; and Bernard Jones, 18, also of West Palm Beach.

Buford has a long criminal history including drug, weapon and battery charges, records show.

Police later found the cash and a silver revolver in a hidden compartment of their car.

The victims declined to comment, but they told police they'd come to Florida to celebrate their third anniversary and were carrying that much cash, their life savings, because they were looking to relocate to South Florida.

They said they had gone out to look for cheap cigarettes because they are expensive in West Virginia, but got lost on the way back to their West Palm Beach hotel.